The death toll from a landslide in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province reached 34 Friday with 10 people missing. Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA-EFE
The death toll from the landslide in Zhenxiong County in China’s southwest Yunnan Province reached 34 on Wednesday
State-run news agencies CGTN and Xinhua confirmed the death toll, adding that at least 10 people remained missing. Advertisement
A search and rescue operation ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping was underway. The landslide buried 18 homes.
Responding government departments allocated 222 tents, 1,350 cotton coats, 700 quilts, 200 folding beds, 200 mattresses and 300 boxes of supplies, according to Xinhua.
Roughly a thousand area residents were evacuated as 778 others were taken in my family and friends while disaster relief supplies were sent into the area.
More than a thousand residents of nearby villages searched for landslide survivors in the mountainous Yunnan Province. Chinese authorities deployed 150 rescue vehicles, 45 rescue dogs and more than a hundred medical personnel with 16 ambulances to treat victims.
The landslide response will include strengthened monitoring and early warning systems ordered by Xi to guard against secondary disasters.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for assessing the hidden risks of geological hazards surrounding the disaster zone as responding agencies work to transfer people at risk to safer places. Advertisement
The province of Xinjiang also experienced a 7.1 magnitude earthquake early Tuesday that injured at least three people and took down several buildings and power lines.
